Licorice and Lightning
by Engraved-Angel
Summary: Miranda, soul changed by the Witch Medusa. Victoria, her twin sister, tortured by the Witch Medusa to the point where her soul is no longer stable. What could the future bear for these two? Only time will tell as they join our well loved characters. SxOC
1. Chapter 1

_Hey all, new multi-chapter soul eater fanfiction. I adopted this beauty from _The-Gray-Ninja _and I am working on rewriting _The New Kids_ under the new name _Licorice and Lightning_ as you can see. This chapter is a little short, but I hope they'll get longer as I go._

_So enjoy and please review telling me what you think. Arigatou minna-san!_

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

New kids at the DWMA.

Things just keep getting stranger?

Victoria's P.O.V

To correctly tell you my distaste for mornings, I would only have to show you to be honest. Mornings aren't exactly my cup of tea, figuratively speaking (considering I actually like tea). Yet with my twin yelling at the top of her lungs to get me out of bed… yeah, not exactly the most pleasant thing to wake up too.

"Tori! Get out of bed before we're late for our first day!"

I groaned, rolling over and burying my head beneath the pillow it had been resting on only a minute earlier. "G'way, don't care," I muttered, having issues with even attempting to open my eyes.

"Get out of bed this instant Victoria! I have no desire for either of us to be late!"

At that comment I sighed and finally opened my eyes, slowly crawling onto my hands and knees and stretching my back out. "Fine fine I'm awake! Now stop the squalling!" I yelled back at her, sitting back on my knees to stretch my arms above my head.

"You do realize we only have ten minutes to get to school… right?"

At that comment I spun around and stared at the door in mute silence. "You lie," I said before looking at the clock. "Damn, you don't lie. Hold up just a sec Miranda!" With that I shot out of bed, rushing through my morning ritual before speeding out of my bedroom while pulling on my socks and shoes. Miranda was already at the door and she handed me my bag and a pop tart as we headed out the door to where our bikes were locked up.

Not motorbikes like I wanted, no, pedal bikes.

I didn't taste the pop tart as I practically inhaled it, putting my bag over my shoulder and hopping on my bike after unlocking it. Miranda was beside me as we started pedaling, heading towards the school at a fast pace to make it in time. Sure enough, within about seven minutes the school was looming above us and the stairs were right there. It was almost a crash landing as we simultaneously hopped off the bikes before braking, shoes skidding across the pavement as we swung our bikes into the racks designated for them.

After locking the bikes up, we raced up the stairs to try and make it before the bells tolled 7 o'clock. One minute to spare as we reached the top of the stairs and then I caught notice and people standing there like they were waiting for us.

There was a boy with shocking white hair, pushed out of his face with a white headband, and his red eyes had me confused for a moment. Then again, if he was an albino I guess it wasn't that strange. The girl next to him had pupil-less green eyes, and sandy brown hair. Guessing from their stances, I would say that those two were partners. Then there was the boy with blue hair and green ey-

"Yahoo! I am the almighty Black*Star and you shall worship me and my godliness!" the blue haired boy crowed, fists on hips and leaning back as he laughed maniacally.

I felt my eyebrow start twitching, one of the few preludes to my losing my temper. As he continued to crow about how god like he was, my hands clenched into fists and finally I knocked him over the head with one hand. "Shut up will ya? Some of us actually want to get to class before we die of boredom," I snapped, eyebrow still twitching.

Miranda put a hand on my own, sending me a warning look, which I blatantly ignored.

He was clutching his head with a scowl on his face. "How dare you injure the amazing Black*Star! I'll beat you down where you stand! Tsubaki!"

A dark haired girl from beside him sighed lightly. "I'm terribly sorry about this," she said before she disappeared and a chain scythe appeared in Black*Star's hands.

I on the other hand just gave him an annoyed look and side-stepped the attack he sent my way. It was a simple manner to half transform into my weapon self, my now mallet hand slamming into Black*Star's head as he turned my way. He crumpled, almost instantly passed out. I shook my hand back into it's normal state before covering my mouth with a yawn. "Can we go now Miranda?" I asked, glancing at my twin from the corner of my eye.

She nodded lightly, coming up beside me. "Of course," she said, smiling slightly before looking at the others. "Shouldn't we all be getting to class?" she asked, tipping her head faintly to the side.

The girl with the green eyes blinked before checking her watch. "Eeyiah! Come on Soul or we'll be late for the tardy bell!" she cried, grabbing the white-haired boy's hand and taking off running.

Miranda and I shared twin looks of partial amusement before heading to class ourselves, leaving Tsubaki and Black*Star to take care of themselves. I might have been convinced to help him if it weren't for the fact he had just attacked me without probable cause. After all, I only hit him to shut him up, not to challenge him to a fight.

"Neh, Mira, which one is our class? Crescent Moon or New Moon?" I asked after a moment, being faced with the fork in the hall with two signs pointing to two different classes.

"Crescent Moon I think," she said, turning to walk down that hall just as the tardy bell rang. "Come on Tori!" she exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me at a run to the class room. We slipped through the doors as the last of the students were trickling in, but then all of the attention was on us. It made me nervous, and I edged away from them and closer to my twin. I didn't want them all looking at me, or us for that matter.

"Ah, so you two have finally arrived."


	2. Chapter 2

_So, something eerie I noticed about the last chapter. The actual amount of words in the story chapter was 1,000 exactly. Yeah, sorta freaked me out. xD  
>Anyway, here's chapter two.<br>Oh! And a disclaimer since I forgot last chapter.  
><em>  
>Disclaimer: The original concept of this story belongs to The-Gray-Ninja, I only adopted it and am twisting it to my will. Soul Eater belongs to it's creator, and Victoria and Miranda belong to The-Gray-Ninja. Basically... I really own nothing. I'm just finishing what was started.<p>

_There, that should keep you little kiddies happy. Only time I'm posting it though.  
>~.^ Enjoy the story!<br>~Angel  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Two<p>

Strange occurrences.

Victoria has an unstable soul?

Maka's POV

Watching the new kids come into class, I was more than a little surprised when I saw the girl who had just beat up Black*Star inch closer to her twin like she could hide behind her. Then Stein had spoken and my attention was on him again.

"Ah, you two have finally showed up."

One of the twins took a step forward (not the one that dealt damage to Black*Star though) and smiled at our semi-insane professor. "Yes, we've finally settled in enough to come to school," she said.

Stein nodded and reached up to turn the screw in his head, which elicited a shudder from twins from what I saw. It was a slight struggle not to laugh at how they were reacting to Professor Stein. "Class," he said, turning to us, "these two are the Daniel twins-"

"Don't call us that."

"Tori, shush, it's not that big of a deal."

I looked back their way to see that the one who had beaten up Black*Star was the first one who spoke, if her defiant stance was anything to go by. Apparently her name was Tori though, short for something else perhaps, and she wasn't happy about being labeled as a Daniel twin.

"No. We left that life behind us, and I don't want labels sticking to us here," Tori said, and I thought I saw anger molding her face into a scowl. I couldn't be sure though, I didn't know them well enough.

The other girl shook her head lightly. "Still, be respectful, he's our teacher," she said.

I caught Tori rolling her eyes and then Stein coughed to get their attention again. "Now, if you don't wish to be referred to by the title you earned during those years, then why don't you properly introduce yourselves to your class mates," he said. That earned him a glare from Tori, but a hand on her shoulder from her twin calmed her down. Her twin turned to the class and offered the rest of the class a smile.

"My name is Miranda Daniel, and I'm a meister. It's a pleasure to make the acquaintance of you all," she said, and bowed lightly. I liked her, she was polite. I noticed that her twin was silent though until Miranda elbowed her lightly.

"I'm Victoria Daniel, Miranda's twin, and her weapon. Call me Tori though," she said, and she looked like she was sulking for a moment. Probably because her sister had to force her to talk… Seeing that they were silent now, I took in the time to really look at them. Their facial structures were identical, and they both had black hair and gray eyes, yet if you looked close enough you could see the differences between them. Victoria held herself in a more slouched position, while Miranda stood straight and proper. When they were both standing straight, Victoria was taller than her twin and looked like she was the elder of the two, probably only by a few minutes though.

What else got me though was when I took a moment to look at their souls, I couldn't see Victoria's. Miranda's was there, shining bright enough with her determination lacing through it, what got me was the traces of lightning flickering through her soul every now and then. It made me curious as to what was going on with her soul, but it wasn't my place to ask. Victoria's soul though… it just flat out wasn't there from what I could see.

"You can take seats near Soul and Maka. You two, raise your hands," Stein said, and I blinked out of my thoughts and my concentration broke making the souls disappearing from view.

Soul elbowed me and I flashed him a brief glare before raising my hand, and Soul did the same while mumbling a 'so uncool' under his breath.

The twins shared a look that I couldn't decipher before coming and sitting next to us. I flashed them a brief smile, hoping that it was welcoming, before I excused myself from my seat and went to the aisle down the college-esque seating. I walked over to Professor Stein before he could continue with torturing his animal of choice today – I think it was an anaconda snake – and tapped him on the shoulder. "Professor, may I speak with you for a moment," I asked, quietly as to not to alert the rest of the class.

"What is it Maka?" he asked, adjusting his glasses and looking down at me. I felt like I was under a magnifying glass for a moment before I shoved the feeling away.

"It's a question about Victoria's soul… can you see it sir?" I inquired, fidgeting slightly under his gaze before steeling myself. Come on now, I was a three-star meister, I shouldn't be afraid of my teacher.

He blinked down at me. "Yes, I can."

"Why can't I see it?"

"Because it flickers in and out."

"Flickers…?"

"Maka, her soul is unstable, probably due to something that happened in the past that she doesn't wish to share."

"What happens when your soul is unstable?" I'd never heard of it happening before, not in any of the books I'd read, so naturally I was confused.

"Well, it differs from person to person. Anything from sinking into madness, to dying, or being just fine. No one's certain simply because it doesn't happen that much. I will admit, this is the first time I've seen an unstable soul, and it makes me all the more curious…" There was the familiar glint of madness in his eyes and I backed away with a nervous laugh.

"Right… well thank you sir, I'll just be getting back in my seat," I said. _Before you decide you want to dissect a student today,_ I added in my head. With that, I slipped back into my seat and stared down at the professor as he started to dissect the poor snake. Didn't even kill the thing first…

I'm not sure of how much attention I paid during class, I kept spacing out during it, thinking back on what Stein had said about Victoria's soul being unstable. It was bothering me, I knew I had to do research on it. So the minute class was out, I waved a good-bye to my friends before telling Soul I was going to the library and he could just head to lunch without me. He gave me a simple "whatever" before leaving, and I collected my things to go to the library.

It was a quick trek through the crowded halls of the DWMA and then I was at the library. I walked up to the librarian and smiled politely. "I was wondering if you had any books on unstable souls?" I asked, showing him my student ID card.

"I believe we have a few Miss Albarn," he said before shuffling away to, supposedly, get the books.

I waited patiently, tucking my ID card back into my pocket. I started to watch the seconds ticking by on the clock, sighing faintly. Two minutes… five minutes… ten minutes… eleven minutes… Finally I heard the sound of shuffling feet again and the librarian came back, holding a book in his hands.

"I found one of them, the others are checked out. Here you are Miss Albarn, it's due in a month," he said, bowing politely after handing it to me. I smiled lightly and signed my name on the check out card, thanking him before leaving the counter. Now I could get answers to my questions.

Finding a secluded part of the library, I settled into a comfy chair and started to read.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter is a bit delayed in coming, we had a family crisis and my parents went down to California, leaving me in charge of the house, so I had some work to do. x.x  
>I have a special shout out going to <em>CherriiBee216_, _The-Gray-Ninja, _and _Catreana!_ Thank you guys so much for reviewing and making me glad that I chose to adopt this story. ^-^  
>As for all of the other people out there reading this story, thanks go to you too. You make me feel so warm and fuzzy when I see how many views I get in one day.<br>Alright, that's all for today. Read and review! Love ya'll!_

_~Angel _

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<br>Let's all play nice.  
>Since when was there a party planned?<p>

Victoria's POV

Lunch on the first day of school was never a pleasant experience to begin with; add that to the fact my twin was dragging me in the one direction I really didn't want to go in the first place? Well, that left me a still none to happy camper with the situation.

Balancing my lunch in one hand, I tugged against Miranda's grip on my other one. "Mira, come on, you _know_ I don't want to sit over there. Not with mister 'I shall surpass God' and the rest of his – probably just as crazy – friends. Come on, let's sit somewhere else!" I pleaded, and it's a rare thing for me to plead… at least it was before we came here.

My sister only scoffed at me. "It's the only table with spots still open. It can't be that bad to sit with Soul and the others," she said, before tugging me over to the table. She smiled at them al. "Do you mind if we sit with you guys?" she inquired.

The white-haired boy looked up before shrugging. "I don't care, long as it's cool with the others."

A girl with short blonde hair let out a cheer and reached across the table to try and tug Miranda into a seat. "Sit with us! Sit with us!" she cried. I found myself sorely tempted to run away from this table of people. I was right, they were as crazy as Mister "I shall surpass God".

The older woman with blonde hair – possibly related to the crazy blonde? – grabbed the girl's hand and made her remove it from my sister. "Patti, you can't just tug on people to make them listen to you. Now eat your lunch," she said, and definitely sounded like an older sister.

The younger blonde – Patti now? – pouted before sitting down to eat her lunch. "Yes Liz," she said, but it seemed that her sorrow was short lived as she started having fun just playing with the food on her lunch tray.

Miranda glanced at me and smiled, to which I returned with a grimace, and then pulled me into a seat. I set my tray down at the exact same time she did hers, and we both picked up our forks to start eating. The boy I had hit earlier was boasting again about how he was going to surpass god and no one could stop him. I sighed, looking down at my tray. What got me though was when he started saying how he was the real winner of the fight earlier.

"There was no way she could have beaten me in a fair fight, therefore, I am the TRUE winner of the fight!" he was saying, before letting out that annoying laugh of his.

I twitched and looked up at him. "You have got to be kidding me. I beat you with a hit to the head, not even in my full weapon form. There is _no_ way you are the 'real' winner," I said, glaring at him.

"Oh yeah? Well it's obvious that I was the real winner, because I am the ALMIGHTY BLACK*STAR AND I CANNOT BE DEFEATED! Hahahahahahahaha!" he crowed, hands over his stomach as he laughed, and it only served to make me even more annoyed.

"Why you little blue bug, I could squash you in a second!" I hissed; slamming my hands onto the table and letting the motion propel me into a standing position. I was starting to see spots because of how angry I was, this child got under my skin way too easily.

He rose to meet me, glaring back at me just as hard. "I bet you couldn't," he taunted.

Suddenly there was a hand in my face, shoving me back into my seat. I could see between the fingers that Black*Star was getting the same treatment. "Now now, if you two don't stop fighting, I'm going to knock your heads together," my sister's voice said, and the tone was so sickly sweet that I knew she was being serious, and she would bash our heads together the hardest she could. I made a wise decision then, and sat back willingly while scooting away from my sister. I really didn't need a bruise on my head…

Miranda smiled and sat back in her seat then, having successfully cowed both Black*Star and I.

He looked across the table at me and mouthed 'your sister is scary'. I could only smirk and nod at that. Yes, yes she was, and I loved her that way.

At that point, I turned my attention back to my food and starting eating, ignoring the conversation that had struck up around me. Unfortunately, my ignoring people abilities didn't work very well when there was suddenly a girly squeal followed by an "oh no I forgot to buy my dress for the dance!" I looked up to see my sister looking very confused at Liz's outburst; I had figured it was Liz since she was the one that looked worried.

Then a quiet boy that I hadn't quite noticed spoke up. "Don't worry Liz; you can probably go get it after school. As long as it's symmetrical, you know that," he said.

I took a good look at him then, taking in the black hair with three snow white stripes on one side of his head. Moving down, I spotted his bi-colored eyes, two different shades of golden yellow. He wore the skull of Lord Death and I blinked in mild surprise. Was this the son of Lord Death? We had heard of him of course, but I didn't expect him to be in the same class as us. Let alone choose to sit at the same table… then again he might be friends with Soul and the others.

Liz was nodding. "Oh I know, Kidd. I'll make sure Patti gets a matching outfit for you," she said, grinning. Obviously she was excited about going shopping. Miranda and her were sure to get along…

Soul scoffed and shook his head. "Parties are so uncool, there's nothing cool to do at them," he said.

Tsubaki, I think her name was Tsubaki, frowned at that. "Oh Soul, don't say that. There's plenty to do at a party. You can dance, and visit with friends. And besides, it is for the school," she said.

Black*Star only laughed. "It doesn't matter if he thinks it'll be fun or not! Because I'm going to be the star of the party, and he will pale in comparison to my amazing-ness! Isn't that right Tsubaki?" he asked, grinning at his weapon partner.

The black-haired girl only smiled lightly before nodding. "Of course Black*Star," she said.

Liz perked up. "Oh! Tsubaki! You don't have an outfit for the party yet either do you?" she asked.

She shook her head in response. "No, I don't."

Miranda chose this moment to speak up, and I glanced at her – silently pleading for her not to say what I thought she was going to. "What exactly is this party about…?" she asked.

I let out a sigh of relief; she hadn't asked if we were invited.

Kidd spoke up then. "Well, it's a party this Friday celebrating the anniversary of when the DWMA was created. All students are invited, and it's going to be a grand event. It is formal though, so suits and dresses are required," he said.

Miranda smiled brightly. "Oh that's great! We'll be sure to make it then won't we, Tori?" she asked, looking at me.

I sent her an un-amused look. "I'm not going, you know I don't do well with parties," I said.

"Aw, but please Tori?" she begged, giving me those damn puppy dog eyes I can't fight when it comes to her.

"N-no… fine. Fine, we'll go," I muttered, looking away from her as she grinned in victory. I think she was about to say something, but then the lunch bell rang – thank goodness I ate most of my lunch – and I stood to throw my tray away. Most of the others did too and once that task was done, we headed back to class. Somehow, somehow I just knew that this party was going to be a bad idea.


	4. Chapter 4

_YAY! Two chapters in one day! I've never been able to do that. Haha.  
>Anyway, this chapter turned up six pages on word, I haven't been able to type a chapter more than 1500 words in forever. And now I have one that's over 2500 words. That makes me happy.<br>Another shout out to _CherriBee216 _and _The-Gray-Ninja_ for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you guys. You get Soul plushies for reviewing every chapter since you started reading. /hands plushies/  
>Okay, now, onto the chapter!<em>

_~Angel_

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

Shopping for the dresses.

Time for a history lesson?

Miranda's POV

I looked up at the clock on the far side of the room, pencil tapping idly against the pad of paper in front of me. The teacher was writing something on the board, and I knew I had to take it down as a note, but if she didn't get out of the way before the bell rang I wouldn't be able too. Sighing, I looked down at the three pages of notes I had already written. Then again, I know that Tori would be looking to copy them because she looked preoccupied with… just gazing out a window. Ah, well, that was my sister in a subject she didn't care about. Just gaze away like she was day dreaming.

Finally the teacher stepped out of the way – I really did need to learn her name – and I was able to jot down the notes in shorthand right before the bell rang. With that, I quickly put my notebook in my bag and snapped it shut before standing. "Tori, come on," I said, poking her lightly to get her out of her daze.

She looked up at me before sighing and shaking her head, standing and putting her school supplies away quickly. "Sorry, guess I spaced," she apologized, and I only smiled at her.

"It's alright Tori," I said, heading down the steps and standing on the floor. "Now come on, I want to drop this stuff off at home!" I felt more than saw her eye roll before she was on the ground next to me and we headed out the door. It was a quick walk out of the school and down the stairs, or at least it was for me, Tori was lagging behind again. I walked over to my bike and unlocked it, swinging a leg over. "Race you home?" I suggested, looking at her with a smile.

Tori grinned at me then. "Anytime, and you know I'll win," she said before unlocking her bike and getting on it.

I laughed at that. "Ha! You only wish you'd be able to win," I taunted before pressing down on the pedal. "Go!" I called over my shoulder, laughing as she struggled to get her bike going after the shock of me leaving that fast. I smiled and kept pedaling, heading back to the apartment. It was nice to be going this fast, the wind hitting my face and pushing my bangs out of my face.

At one point Tori had been going faster than me, and sped around a corner, but I caught up easily and for the rest of the trip home we were pretty much even. We stopped at the front of the apartment and hopped off the bikes, and I smiled. "Beat you," I pointed out to her, and she only pouted.

"Did not, we were tied," she said, locking up her bike before heading to the front door.

I laughed at that and locked up as well before following her, shifting my bag on my shoulder before I was able to walk in the door. I tossed my bag onto the couch before stretching slightly. "Neh, Tori…?" I asked, turning to look at my sister.

She gave me a wary look, slowly putting her bag on the ground. "Yes Miranda?" she asked.

"Can we go shopping? Please?" I asked, lacing my hands in front of me and giving her an innocent look. "Pretty please?"

"You're already making me go to a party I really don't want to go to in the first place, now why exactly am I supposed to cave and go shopping?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

I pouted lightly, knowing fully well that it was hard for her to resist letting me do what I wanted too. "Please? We need dresses for the party, we don't have any suitable ones here," I said.

She sighed slightly and turned away from me, and I knew in that moment I had won. "Fine, but we're getting inexpensive dresses to save money until we can get jobs," she said, and I let out a cheer before tackling her onto the couch.

"Thank you thank you thank you~" I cried, hugging her tightly before bouncing back onto my feet and running to my room to get my wallet. "Get your wallet! We're going to have to walk there! I don't want to risk the dresses getting ruined by being in a bag on a bike!" I called to her, quickly running a brush through my hair and putting a head band in it to hold my bangs out of my face.

I bounced back out of my room with my wallet tucked into my pants pocket and smiled, waiting for Tori to come back out of her room. She came out soon enough – wearing a headband also and her wallet was attached to a chain in her pocket like usual – and I grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the apartment after locking the door.

Apparently it wasn't that far of a walk, because in… approximately twenty minutes, we were standing in front of the mall. I felt Tori sigh from beside me. "Alright, let's go," she said, walking into the giant building that housed probably more than fifteen stores. I followed in behind her, looking around and smiling before I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the nearest dress shop.

I promptly started going through the racks, looking for something that would look good and wasn't too expensive. Talk about hard, everything thing here was top of the line and expensive. I gave up on that store after a while and pulled Tori back out, sighing. "Oh well, fourteen more stores to hit!"

She looked at me like I'd grown two heads. "Fourteen? Oh no, we don't have time for that."

I pouted again but gave in this time. "Fine, we'll only hit five," I said before turning and going to find a directory or something. If I only got five stores, I wanted to make sure I hit the right five. I finally found a directory and grinned, walking over to it, but then I saw a very familiar group of four girls; which of course consisted of Liz, Patti, Maka, and Tsubaki.

Maka was the first to notice us and waved, so I waved back with a small smile. "Hey Miranda, Tori!" she called. I felt Tori's confusion before she realized who it was and I chuckled slightly, earning an elbow in my side from her. "What're you guys doing here?" Maka asked as we got closer to them.

"We're out shopping for dresses for the party," I responded, "what about you guys?"

"Oh, we're here for the same reason," Tsubaki said, smiling at all of us.

Liz grinned at us. "We can all shop together! We were just looking for the best store to go shopping at," she said, and I found myself nodding with the rest of the group – minus Tori of course.

Tori only sighed before giving a shrug. "Alright, if that's what you want Mira. But remember, cheap," she said.

I nodded. "I know, Tori," I said, smiling at her before looking back at the group. "So where were you guys planning on going first?" I asked.

Maka smiled at us. "Well I think we were going to go to Tirandel's Boutique," she said.

I smiled slightly. "Okay. You guys can just lead the way," I said, gesturing.

Liz smiled before taking the lead, heading in the direction I assumed the Boutique was in. As we walked, Tori and I found questions being pointed towards us.

"So where did you guys live before Death City?" Tsubaki asked softly.

I felt my twin stiffen and I put a hand on her arm to calm her slightly before answering. "We actually moved from England-"

"Then why don't you have a funny accent?" Patti cut in.

I smiled at her. "Because we were born and raised here in the U.S. We just came from England because we had taken a two year trip there to see the sights, among other things." Maka looked at us then, and I felt like a bug being examined… or maybe that snake that Professor Stein dissected today… What was going on in that head of hers?

"So why did the Professor call you two the Daniel Twins, even though you are twins… it sounded like a title rather than just your last name and relation," she said.

I managed to stop Tori from jumping down the girl's throat for an innocent question, my hand on her arm tightening to the point she winced and glared at me, and I just glared back. They had a right to know, they were our friends after all. She scoffed at me, as if to say 'you don't know that yet'. I rolled my eyes and then smiled faintly at Maka. "It is a title," I said cautiously, watching my twin to see if she was going to stop me or add in her own two cents. She did neither, merely staring at the ground as she walked like it would swallow her whole.

"It is a title," I said again with a small sigh. "We earned it through our life because of what we used to do. Think of us as… ex-hit men, in a way. Our… services… were able to be bought for a certain price, and then we would complete the mission. We aren't exactly proud of what we did, which is why we came here to restart," I said.

The girls looked at us for a moment but didn't ask anymore questions and I let out a sigh of relief. Though why did I get the feeling that we were going to be asked more questions at a later date…? Probably because we were… Ah, oh well. I resigned myself to the fact and let it go. It was then that we were at Tirandel's Boutique, and I walked in half expecting everything to be priced to the extremes. Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised to see that everything was actually decently priced.

"Elizabeth! Patricia! How nice to see you two!"

I turned to look at who was talking to the two sisters, blinking in surprise at the sight of the mocha colored woman with black hair that hung in a braid down to mid back. She had the most amazing pair of blue eyes, a deep blue that shone like the night sky, and I felt like I could instantly trust her.

Patti grinned and launched herself at the woman, clinging to her. "Tira Tira! Hi there!" she chirped, still grinning like a maniac.

The woman, whom I suppose is named Tira, patted the girl and pried her off to set her back on the ground. "I don't suppose you two are here to shop?" she asked, making it seem like they often time came in here just to talk to her.

Liz laughed. "We are actually," she said, "along with our friends. We're shopping for the party coming up at the DWMA."

Tira looked pleased and turned to the rest of us. "Well then, it's nice to see you all. Can I help you find anything specific for this party?"

"Cheap and formal," Maka said with chuckle, and I nodded with the others.

Tira grinned, gave us thumbs up and threw in a wink. "Leave it to me ladies, I have something for every one of you in here," she said, before laughing softly and looking at us all like she was trying to figure out who to start with. Finally she pointed at Tsubaki and gestured for her to follow. The black haired weapon followed the worker – or was she the owner? – and came back within ten minutes with a dress in her hands and a smile on her face.

It went like this for the rest of the group, Tira picking us one at a time and then each one coming back with a dress, happy about the choice and it fit our budgets. She picked Victoria before me, and she came back with a shocked yet happy look on her face. I peered over at her arms. "What did you get?" I asked.

Tori held out a gorgeous navy blue dress that was a sleeveless v-neck, a line cut. The V dipped a little farther than I thought she would be comfortable with, probably only two and a half inches before the end of her bust. Beneath that was a five inch wide beaded "belt" of sorts, and it flowed freely after that point. It really was a pretty dress, and Tori was going to look stunning in it.

Tira finally looked at me and gestured. "Come on, let's go then," she said, walking away. I followed behind her, suddenly feeling like a puppy at the heels of its master. She pushed me into a dressing room and then handed me a dress that she must have grabbed while we were walking… or maybe she already had it picked out. I don't know I didn't see her grab it. I took it and closed the door to the dressing room to try the dress on.

Once it was on and zipped in the back I had to look twice to be sure I was seeing things correctly. The teal color was set off against my hair and eyes, and it was an off-the-shoulder dress that had two straps coming back around under my arms to tie behind my neck and ensure that it stayed up. The dip for the neck line was modest, and stopped just before my bust. The fabric wrapped to the left, and there was a line of ruching that all of the fabric around my middle followed. The fabric dropped from the ruching line into elegant folds that grew bigger the further from the line they got. Turning around, I got a look at the fabric in the back that formed what was called a "fish-tail". All in all, it was a gorgeous dress.

I slipped back out of it and put the dress over my arm, checking the price tag. I was surprised when I saw that it was just under a hundred dollars. A dress that beautiful for less than a hundred? Well, my mind was made up about it then. I left the dressing room and thanked Tira, smiling brightly at her.

She waved a hand. "Don't worry about it, I've been doing this for years, I know what will look good," she said, smiling before escorting me back to where the others were. They all oo-ed and aw-ed over the dress as we went to pay for our collections. Soon after, we left the store and bid Tira a farewell.

Liz turned to us with a smile. "Well, who's up for shoe shopping next to go with the dresses?"

I could only smile; the rest of the afternoon was going to be lots of fun.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hey everyone! Sorry this is extremely late, life got hectic because school started. Then I got my driving permit and blah blah blah. Yeah… life is fun. xD Oh well. Here's chapter five, hope ya enjoy. Read and review!_

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<p>

New Questions.

Who are the Daniel Twins?

Maka POV

The sizzling pop of dinner cooking was a small comfort, a semblance of normality in a world I was positive was slowly going crazy. The two girls that had joined school were making new questions constantly pop up for me, and it was confusing to say the least. I had gone shopping with them and the other girls to get dresses for the upcoming anniversary party. I had done even more extensive research on the matter of an unstable soul, even going to the point of asking my good-for-nothing papa to borrow his ID to get another book that I wanted on it.

With a sigh I turned my mind from the twins and focused on not burning the fish I was making for Blair and Soul. My dinner – I had opted out of fish tonight – was a salad that was already done and just waiting for me to take it to the table with the other two's dinner. Thinking back on the party… that was tomorrow wasn't it? Yesterday had been Wednesday, making today Thursday, and the party was on Friday… so yes, the party was tomorrow.

"Oh Soul, the party is tomorrow night, remember?" I asked, turning slightly to catch a look at the albino on the couch watching TV. I think it was some cops show on, I'm not sure; I didn't usually pay attention to the shows that Soul watched.

"Whatever, it's not like I'm excited about going or anything," he scoffed, waving a hand above his head as if to dismiss the subject.

I twitched; grasp tightening on the spatula in my hand before I tossed it. I smirked in satisfaction when I heard a startled yelp and Soul whining about how "getting kitchen utensils tossed on me is so uncool Maka". Oh yes, the target was hit. With a smile, I turned back to the dinner. Picking up the pan, I scooted the fish onto the two separate plates that already had steaming rice on them. I picked them up, and walked over to the table, setting them down before going back to get my salad and then putting it in my place.

"Soul! Blair! Dinner's done!" I called, sitting down in my seat.

"Cool, food," I heard Soul, along with Blair's "Nyaa~ I smell fish~". I could only smile as they took their seats and then we just started eating. This was common for us, eating in silence with only the occasional conversation brought up. Usually this involved Soul insulting me and me hitting him in retaliation. Surprisingly though, tonight was uneventful in that manner. I didn't have to hit Soul once, and he appeared lost in thought.

"Hey, what's on your mind, Soul?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"It's nothing you need to bother yourself with Tiny Tits," he said.

Instantly I grabbed the nearest book to me and slammed it into his skull.

"Owwww! Damn it Maka, stop being so damn violent!" he growled at me, both hands over his head as if he was trying to protect it and will the pain away.

"Sorry I was just trying to be nice; you don't have to insult me and my body!" I snapped before taking my plate to the sink. I then retrieved my book and went to my room. I flipped on the desk lamp and took a seat, settling the book in front of me and starting to read.

_ Unstable souls are the result of either traumatizing experimentation or an internal conflict that cannot be settled with a simple decision or professional help. In very few cases it has been recorded that both options have caused a soul to become unstable._

_ An unstable soul generally cannot make up their minds easily. It can take hours to decide something simple that would take a stable soul only a few minutes. With an unstable soul, it is also much easier to slip into becoming a prekishin. The temptation is heavier weighed when there is no stability…_

I skimmed further down the page, brows furrowed. If Victoria's soul was unstable… what had caused it? Did it have something to do with the past the twins didn't want to discuss? Thinking about that only brought around more questions. What had they done that would _cause_ a soul to become unstable?

With a sigh I closed the book and set it to the side, pushing up from my desk into a standing position. I had to do research on them, and I couldn't do that here. Walking out of my room, I glanced over at Soul. "Hey, I'm going to the library at school before it closes. I'll be back later," I said, and I got a vague response in return by him waving his hand. With a shake of my head, I was out the door and on the way to the school.

I was walking at a fast pace so that I could get there faster, but I didn't expect to run into Tsubaki. I stopped and smiled at her, lifting a hand in a wave. She smiled back at me and came to a stop in front of me. She had shopping bags in her hands; she must have just come back from the store.

"Hey Tsubaki!" I chirped, happy as ever to see my friend.

"Hello Maka. What are you doing out?" she asked, a slight tilt to her head.

"I'm heading out to the library to do some research actually," I replied, "I thought I could use their computers before it closed for the night."

"Are you researching something to do with the twins?" she asked.

I almost felt someone guilty for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yeah, I am. I was looking up some stuff and then it made some other questions come up."

She nodded slightly. "Alright Maka, but shouldn't you just ask them?"

"Probably, but you saw how Victoria clams up. I need some answers, and I really don't think she's going to give them to me," I said.

Tsubaki only nodded before telling me that she had to go, bidding me a good night, and I did the same. With that, I continued on my way to the school. I got there thirty minutes before closing time for the library, so I hurried in to use one of the computers. I logged in quickly with my student ID and opened up a web search.

_/ Search: Daniel Twins_

_ / 105 matches to your search request._

I blinked at the sight of how many entries there were and started to scan them. It looked like they all had something to do with the twins I knew…

_/ Daniel Twins strike again, scaring out more than 20 kishin eggs._

_ / Daniel Twins off the map. Dead or working silently?_

_ / Twins found working with – _

I clicked on the third link, curiosity making me wonder about the link title. Who were they working with and why did the title cut off like that? I waited patiently for it to load, but the sight that met me when it did was not one I wanted to see.

_/ Sorry, this website is no longer available_

I paged back and clicked on the other links, getting the same response. What was going on? Obviously someone did want people researching the twins, why else would suddenly all of the links not work anymore? I decided to try one last link and almost cheered when it went through without the page being canceled. Quickly I started to read.

_/ Daniel Twins have made the news, speaking with the top police in London. It seems that they have struck up a deal. They would keep the kishin eggs off the streets in return for pay…_

_ … The twins have also made it publically aware that they are hit men, for a price they will take out whoever you need._

_ Click __here__ to see a video recently taken of them meeting with a potential customer._

I blinked slowly; there was a lot of information on this page. So Miranda was telling the truth, they were hit men. But this article still didn't give me any information on what sort of jobs they had done. All of the pages with that information had been deleted… This really only made more questions pop up and that was starting to annoy me.

Just for the sake of saying I did, I clicked on the video link. I fervently wished that it would load; this might fill in some questions.

_/ Sorry, this video cannot be found at the moment_

"Damn it!" I hissed, fists hitting against the desk. The moment of being pissed off was replaced almost instantly with the dull beat of pain from my hands. With a sigh, I simply logged off the computer. I wasn't going to get any answers this way.

I stood from the desk and pushed in the chair, then headed out of the library towards home while nursing my hands. Guess I really was going to have to talk to twins about their pasts…


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey everyone, Angel here. I'm so sorry it took me this long to get chapter six out. School decided it would be funny to gut me and watch me squirm. /annoyed/ Anyway, this is the very long awaited chapter, and I hope you all enjoy it.  
>And to let everyone know, I probably will not be posting chapters during November. I'm participating in NaNoWriMo, which means all my muse will be spared for that. Gotta reach 50k this year after all. Haha.<br>Anyway, enjoy the chapter!  
>~Angel<br>_

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<br>Dancing Through Life.  
>What just happened?<p>

Victoria's POV

"Tori let me do your hair~"

"But it hurts when you do my hair."

"Deal with it and let me do it anyway. You can't just throw it up in a ponytail for a party!"

With a sigh I gave in and let my sister sit me down with a hair brush in her hand. Knowing her she'd try to curl it or something equally impossible when dealing with my hair. It never did like to listen to anyone, including me. Yet Miranda seemed happy enough working with it.

I sat there in mild boredom for about a half hour as she did my hair, and once that was done, she insisted on make up. Oi, we were never going to get out of here.

"Mira, enough already. We're going to be late," I pointed out, trying to keep the whine out of my voice.

She stopped and looked at the clock, letting out a startled yelp before flying around the apartment to try and throw on her dress and heels quickly. I only rolled my eyes and stood from the chair, changing quickly into my own dress and putting on a pair of flats. I couldn't stand heels, they were simply impractical. Soon enough I was standing beside the door still waiting for my twin.

"Miranda! Hurry up!" I called.

Suddenly she was there beside me, handing me a bag with a smile. "All ready!" she chirped. She was far too chipper to be going to a party where all we would do was stand around and talk to people… She grabbed onto my arm and pulled me out of the apartment, drawing me towards the school for the dance. "Come on come on, go faster!"

"Miranda, we're walking to the school and you're in bloody heels. We can't go any faster unless you want to break an ankle!" I growled, somewhat annoyed with her now.

She only smiled at me. "I won't break an ankle; have more faith in me, Tori. Come on, I don't want to miss the opening speech~"

"I could do without it…" I muttered before following her to the school. It was definitely too long of a walk, I would have much rather ridden my bike. Of course even had I tried Miranda would have yanked me off again saying something about "how it was improper to ride a bike in a dress". So we walked… and walked… and walked some bloody more. At least I was in flats; I would have killed myself if I was walking in heels.

By the time we reached the school, I was about ready to turn back and run away to the apartment. There were so many students! I didn't even _know_ that the DWMA had so many students going here… though I guess in a way it would make sense. Either way, I was ready to high-tail it out of there, but Miranda was pulling me forward like she did at lunch… every day… It must not have taken long for her to pull – drag – me up the stairs because the next thing I knew we were in the dance room and people were mulling about just talking and waiting for the opening speech. Oh joy, I thought I had managed to avoid it but I guess not.

"Miranda! Tori!" A voice called and my head followed in that direction to spy the others. It was Maka and Patti waving at us, beckoning us over. With a sigh, I stopped dragging my heels and walked with my sister over to the girls. A few minutes and many compliments later, I slunk away to lean against the wall and let out a breath of relief that I had escaped the crushing grasp of all of the girls.

It was only a few minutes later that I spied Lord Death on the stage, obviously getting ready to fully start the party. I watched idly as he made his speech, it was wonderfully short, but then Kidd stepped up and started talking. And he didn't stop talking… I thought I was going to cry in relief when Lord Death managed to stop his child from continuing.

At that point the party really started, and the music started going loud. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, dancing on the floor and mingling with people they didn't always have time to mingle with. I noticed at one point that Kidd took Miranda onto the dance floor – probably more like Miranda forcefully dragged a protesting Kidd who was spouting something about symmetry – and started dancing. I saw Kidd relax as he realized that the simple dance they were doing was actually symmetrical.

A smirk touched my lips and I pushed off the wall to go to the punch table. I filled a cup and then took a tentative sip, smiling when I realized it wasn't spiked. I had to check, one never knows when it comes to parties, even high end ones like this.

I had just finished off my punch when suddenly Liz was there and dragging me away, not leaving me any chance to do or say anything. When I found a moment though, I was not very happy.

"Liz, where the hell are you taking me?" I asked, finally managing to get my feet back under me and casting a glare at the taller girl. Suddenly I found myself shoved into someone, and I heard semi-crazy laughter from behind said person. I took a step back to try and figure out who was in front of me when a very familiar voice came from the body.

"Oi, so not cool Patti."

I blinked slowly before I lifted my head from staring at his shoes to looking at his face. Yup, there was Soul, standing in front of me and glaring at one of the Thompson sisters. I couldn't stop a soft laugh from escaping me, which brought his attention back to the fact we had just run into each other.

"Oh, Tori. Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you. Uncool moment," he said with a faint shrug, and I waved a hand as if saying to let it go.

"Don't worry about it; I know you got pushed here. I did too," I replied, gesturing to Liz with my thumb.

Liz stepped in at that moment, taking both of us by our shoulders. "Now now kiddies, you two are going to grab hands and go dance!" She started pushing us to the dance floor, and she was _not_ taking no for an answer.

"H-hey! Stop that Liz! I don't do dancing!" I exclaimed, doing my best to escape, but she wasn't having it.

"Nah-uh, you and Soul are dancing. Now. I was dared by your sister, Tori, and your meister, Soul, that I wouldn't be able to get you two to dance, so get over it and go dance. I have thirty bucks riding on this thing," she said, and at that point Soul and I were both protesting. Yet a minute later found us on the dance floor surrounded by couples.

I sighed and looked up at the white haired demon scythe. "Well… should we dance just to prove them wrong? Or should we separate now and face the fact they'll rub it in our faces forever?" I asked him, shifting my stance so that I was more comfortable. I didn't like how close everyone on the dance floor was to us. I heard the shift in the music too, the music was no longer a fast song, it was dying out into a slow song. Damn it, I would've rather danced when it was fast, a slow song meant being even closer.

"It would be uncool to having something as pathetic as not dancing rubbed in, so we might as well. Even though I don't dance," he said, hands sunk into the pockets of his slacks.

I blinked, bringing myself back into the subject before sighing. "Alright, you lead then," I said, taking his hands the minute he offered them. I was stunned by how easily he slid into the music, leading me on the dance floor. As long as I had a good partner, I didn't step on any toes, and he made it quite clear that he could dance. The closeness between us wasn't something I had wanted before, but I found myself thinking that maybe it wasn't so bad.

"You lied when you said you don't dance," I commented, lifting my head slightly in order to meet his eyes.

A smirk from the shark-toothed boy met me. "I never said I couldn't, only that I don't. It's not cool to dance on the dance floor like this, everyone stares at you if you're too good," he said.

I laughed softly. "Not cool? Dancing is one of the few true 'cool' things left in the world. I don't do it because I usually get stuck with dance partners that can't lead right and then I step on them," I said.

He looked at me, and I entertained the thought that the expression on his face was a mixture of shock and amusement. "Well, you haven't stepped on me yet," he said.

I felt the smirk tip my lips before I could stop it. "Well, doesn't that say something?" He blushed at my comment and I smiled, letting the silence drop over us. It wasn't uncomfortable, quite the opposite actually. I think on some level we had a basic understanding between us, and it was that understanding that made it easy to be quiet around each other.

After the song we separated, walking back to where the group had gathered. I spotted Miranda begrudgingly handing over thirty dollars to Liz. Liz was overjoyed, Miranda looked depressed, Maka was shocked, and everyone else was stunned. Soul and I glanced at each other before we started laughing, the looks on their faces were simply too much. It seems our laughter was enough to send the group into laughter as well. Who would've thought one dance could affect the group so much.

Yet our fun loving mirth was ended quickly when the doors burst open and Sid came in. "We're under attack!" he cried.

A ripple ran through the crowd and I caught Mira's eye. She nodded, and I walked closer to her. But the next thing I knew the ground fell from beneath my feet and I slid down a slide that suddenly appeared. I yelped, this was NOT something one was supposed to do in a dress. I hit the ground in a tumble, standing up quickly in order to save some form of dignity. I looked around, trying to tell who all fell with me. There was Miranda, Maka, Soul, Liz, Patti, Kidd, Tsubaki, Black*Star, Stein, and Death Scythe. Oh crap… did this mean that the defense was all left to us…?

Everyone was quick to recover and suddenly everyone _except_ Miranda and I were shedding the party clothes and changing into battle clothes. I stared for a moment before growling. "And this is what happens the one night I let my guard down. Damn it Mira, I don't want to fight in a dress that cost me a hundred dollars!"

My twin looked sheepish for a moment before reaching behind her. There was a bag of clothes in her hand a minute later and I blinked before chuckling, taking the bag. I tossed her the clothes that were hers from the bag, but not before getting close enough to whisper in her ear. "Be careful using your powers, Miranda. I don't know what this group would do if they found out we've been hiding something like this from them." I got a faint nod from her as I backed away to change quickly. I must say, getting back into a pair of jeans was much more comfortable than being in that dress.

I turned my attention to Stein as he cleared his throat, Death Scythe in weapon form in the professor's hands. "Alright students. Our mission to stop the witches from reaching the Kishin and reviving him with the black blood, are we clear? Do whatever necessary."

We all nodded, and then the weapons shifted into their weapon form. I watched Soul become a scythe, Liz and Patti became twin pistols, and Tsubaki became a chain scythe. I smiled faintly before shifting, landing in my sisters hands. When in partial transformation I could be considered a mallet, but in full transformation, I was a sledge hammer. Big and bulky, with a somewhat dull metallic look. I was made for smashing and crushing, which was perfectly fine by me.

I peered out from the surface, looking at what was going on. Stein gave the signal and we all took off, running towards the Kishin's chambers. I was slung over Miranda's shoulder, so I bounced a little bit as she ran, but it wasn't a big deal. I was pretty much used to it at this point in our lives. I felt a familiar flicker of magic that left me breathless. Oh no, oh no oh no oh no it couldn't. It couldn't be her. We had left her far behind us; there was no freaking way she had found us. Yet when I looked around, I could see that it was indeed her, and everyone had come to a stop. Oh shit…

Miranda's grip on me tightened, bringing me down to a battle ready position. "Medusa," she hissed, eyes narrowing. I felt her wavelength waver and I couldn't help the nervousness that washed over me.

We were facing Medusa, the witch that still haunted our dreams.


End file.
